The holidays have a way of making an empty chair feel louder. Many of us spend the season quietly hoping someone will say our person’s name, while the people we love tiptoe around it.

These story cards are an invitation to do the opposite.

Each one asks a simple question, like “What’s a story about them that still makes you laugh?”, so the people around your table can share the memories they’ve been holding. Some will be stories you’ve heard a hundred times. Some will be stories you’ve never heard at all.

Get your free Say Their Name story cards

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What’s inside

• 28 printable cards, four to a page, with a line for their name at the top of each
• Prompts that run from funny to tender, plus a few just for kids
• Open “A story I want you to have” cards for anything the prompts don’t cover
• A short note with three easy ways to use them

Print them at home on cardstock and cut along the borders. That’s all the setup there is.

Three ways to use them

• Raise a glass. Before the meal, draw one card and answer it as a toast. It sets the tone and invites others to follow.
• At each place. Set a card and pen at each seat. People can share out loud or quietly write a memory to keep.
• A basket by the door. Let people fill one out when they’re ready and drop it back in the basket on the way out.

A few of the prompts

• What’s a phrase you can still hear them saying?
• What was their holiday job, tradition, or quirk?
• What’s something kind they did that most people never knew about?
• What’s a story about them you think I might not know?

Why I made these

At Brad’s celebration of life, the room was full of stories, and I was too lost in grief to hold on to a single one. I started Book of Stories so other families wouldn’t have to lose theirs.

These cards are a small way to start gathering those stories this season, around your own table, with the people who knew your person best.

Download the free story cards

When you’re ready for more

If the cards bring out stories you want to keep for good, Book of Stories gathers memories and photos from the people who knew your person, near and far, and binds them into a linen keepsake book you can hold, reread, and pass down.

See how Book of Stories works